EDITORIALS: “BC, who cares?” We do. Ottawa, not so much.

It would be wrong to suggest Ottawa is doing nothing to help British Columbia in this hour of its greatest need. But sending 200 soldiers might sound a bit of undershooting their need.

Kind of makes us think of that fiddle player in Rome.

Not to do a Bernier on Trudeau and divide the country but something smells. Either the reporting or lack thereof regarding the help Ottawa is sending or has sent to British Columbia stinks. Or Ottawa is fiddling while BC is burning.

Surely this is the time to send in the army, thousands of troops to help put out these disastrous fires. These fires will have incredibly environmental repercussions on British Columbia for years. Soil erosions, landslides, lack of forest regrowth, floods and more.

Sending in the army may be the support BC needs. No matter that these are not trained firefighters. No matter that this will cost a lot of money. No matter that these soldiers may not do all the right firefighting actions. No matter that it will take a herculean support staff to even help these soldiers in the field. The time has come for Ottawa to act and stop fiddling around.

BC is a national catastrophe needing exceptional non-partisan, non-political solutions. These are fellow Canadians in dire need. The fires cannot be left to burn out on their own. They need serious manpower to extinguish them. Ottawa has it. What is it doing about it?